LIFE: Jimbo’s Grocery Store

I think a lot about what I want to be when I grow up. I am nearing forty and I still have no idea what I want my career to be. I talk to other people about this all the time, and I have found that most people feel the same way.

Let me tell you what I THINK my dream job is: professional grocery shopper and meal planner. Is it possible to make a living doing it?

Most people dread going to the grocery store each week and planning what they’ll eat. I am a good grocery shopper and it is a chore that I don’t get sick of. In fact, I look forward to it. I modify weekly menus at the store when I see what is on special and what produce looks the best. Buying groceries is one of the most important things I do each week because what I buy leads to my overall health and well-being.

Most of the time I go to multiple places to get everything we need for a week. In San Diego I shop at Trader’s Joe’s (stocking up on organic frozen fruit for smoothies), Whole Foods (one of the only places I’ve been able to find Field Roast sausages), Farmer’s Markets (for kale, bitchin’ sauce and Indian food), Penzey’s Spices (for all spices, especially curry, cinnamon and mulling spices), Ripe (our neighborhood produce spot), and Sprouts (this is our go-to store).

We lived in downtown San Diego for over three years and we always said it needed a good grocery store. Now that we’ve moved they have finally opened one. Jimbo’s, a So Cal grocery chain, opened at Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego a few weeks ago. I have wanted to go since it opened, especially because I read that almost everything is organic and the prices are pretty reasonable.

When we were at the San Francisco Farmer’s Market last weekend we tried Hodo Soy. It is the best soy product I have ever had (Chipotle uses them for their AMAZING Sofritas, which are rolling out across the country after being tested on the West Coast). We wanted to buy all of it and take it back to San Diego with us, but the logistics of that didn’t work so great. The good news was that they told us they were sold at one location in So Cal – Jimbo’s grocery stores! As soon as I got home guess where I went?!

Jimbo’s is a little inconvenient for me because it is in downtown San Diego, but I’ll still be shopping there almost every week because it has everything I need in one space. They have free parking on the fourth floor at Horton Plaza, and the new Tender Greens (if you go, get the Happy Vegan Plate!!) and Chipotle are near for pre-grocery dining. Almost everything is organic and food is labeled so you can be sure what you are eating is GMO-free.

When you are checking out you get five cents off for each bag that you bring, or you get wooden nickels that are deposited into a bin for different charities. Of course, I picked the animal rescue.

Here was my haul for the week: kale*, bananas, 10 lemons*, butternut squash*, sugar pumpkin*, pink lady apples*, radishes*, cucumbers*, cabbage*, potatoes*, almond milk, cereal, Hodo Soy*, Curry Seitan*, Tempeh, Frozen Hilary’s Veggie Burgers, Meiomi Pinot Noir*, Pad Thai Noodles, whole wheat penne, 1 lb raw cashews, pizza sauce, follow your heart mozzarella, Sukhi Indian seasoning mixes (this will get a full blog post at some point)*, bitchin sauce*, salsa*, sprouted curry hummus*, corn tortillas*, garbanzo beans, kombucha*, tamari, mint tea, and quinoa. Everything with the * was made in California. Delicious dinners coming this week.

I don’t think there is such a thing as a professional grocery shopper. Maybe for really rich people, but it is the people who don’t have a lot of money (or time!) that need it the most. I wonder if I was paid to grocery shop if the fun would be taken out of it.

How many people really have their dream job? And is work even supposed to be fun?